Year 9 - French
Celebrities: perfect and imperfect
How things used to be: imperfect tense, ordinal numbers
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
Pupils are introduced firstly to -er verbs in the imperfect tense to describe habitual events in the past. The imperfect of common irregular verbs is added, before pupils then contrast one-off and habitual events with the perfect vs imperfect tenses, practising this with known and new vocabulary.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use the present, imperfect and perfect tenses to discover more about French-speaking celebrities.
Key Notes
- Use the imperfect tense to talk about events and actions that used to happen regularly in the past.
- To form the imperfect tense, take the present tense 'nous' form without -ons, add -ais (je/tu) or ait (il/elle/on).
- Four groups of -re verbs are: verbs like entendre, verbs like prendre, verbs like traduire and verbs like écrire.
- Three groups of -ir verbs are: verbs like choisir, verbs like partir and verbs like venir.
- Use the perfect tense to talk about specific/one-off events + actions that happened.
Vocabulary To Learn
- imperfect tense: tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- All -re and -ir verbs follow the same pattern.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
Use the imperfect tense to talk about events and actions that used to happen regularly in the past. To form the imperfect tense, take the present tense 'nous' form without -ons, add -ais (je/tu) or ait (il/elle/on).
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'imperfect tense'
tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: All -re and -ir verbs follow the same pattern. Correction: There are different groups of -ir and -re verbs that follow slightly different patterns. It's good to revisit these regularly in their own right and because they can help with other tenses.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Childhood: present and imperfect tenses, 'il y a' meaning 'ago' Study Guide
- Childhood: then and now: key - RE and -IR verbs in the imperfect tense Study Guide
- Montreal - a diverse city: imperfect tense singular Study Guide
- Montreal - habitual and one-off past events: imperfect and perfect Study Guide
- Primary and secondary school: -er verbs imperfect tense, ordinal numbers Study Guide
- School in France - then and now: -er verbs imperfect tense Study Guide
- Spring holidays: perfect tense with 'être', pronouns 'moi', 'toi', 'qui' Study Guide
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